Mr Paterson was only appointed in December 2017 and took up his position in February 2018.

At the time of Mr Paterson's appointment to ESC, Deputy Paul Le Pelley was the President of the Committee. He said the position of Chief Secretary is the most senior advisor to the Committee "and I am sure Gus will prove to be an invaluable addition."

Deputy Le Pelley said Mr Paterson was joining ESC "at a crucial time for the future of our island's secondary education system. There is much work to do and the whole Committee is delighted to have someone with Gus's skills and experience on board to support us."

Now Mr Paterson has made the decision to move on from his post relatively quickly, an internal recruitment process will begin immediately with work starting tomorrow to find a new Chief Secretary so they can be in post in advance of Mr Paterson’s departure. A statement from ESC said this will "ensure no momentum is lost on current work streams."

Mr Paterson said he has "really enjoyed my time supporting the new Committee and believe we have made significant progress in a relatively short period – particularly with initial steps taken to reform the Education Office. This work hopefully stands the Committee and my colleagues in good stead going forward."

He added; "while my time as Chief Secretary was shorter than I expected, ultimately I was offered a role in the private sector that was too good an opportunity to miss."

Paul Whitfield, the States of Guernsey Chief Executive, said Mr Paterson "has made a big impact in a short amount of time" adding "we are all disappointed to see him go, but understand that it is the nature of the beast that the States of Guernsey has to compete with the private sector for top staff."

"I wish Gus nothing but the best for his future career," Mr Whitfield said, confirming that "we will shortly begin the process of appointing a successor, and are looking to have the new appointee in post as soon as possible to ensure a quality handover can take place, with no resultant dip in the crucial work already underway."